Short Term Creatine Loading Without Weight Gain Improves Sprint, Agility and Leg Strength Performance in Female Futsal Players

Summary Objectives Futsal game requires players to perform frequent bouts of high-intensity activity with limited rest periods that are not sufficient for full recovery. Therefore, creatine supplementation may enhance performance by improving recovery rate. Along with this, the number of studies conducted to determine the effects of creatine on performance in the females is scarce. Thus, the main aim of this study is to identify the effects of short-term (7/day) creatine supplementation on leg strength, velocity and agility in young female futsal players. Equipment and methods A total of thirty of young female futsal players (aged: 19.83±1.13 years) participated in the study which was designed as randomized and double-blind, on a voluntary basis. Participants were randomly assigned either to creatine (n=15) or placebo (n=15) group. Over 7 days, creatine group received 0.25g/kg/day micronized pure creatine monohydrate (Creapure, Hardline Nutrition, Kavi Gıda Istanbul, Turkey) and placebo group did not take any supplements, apart from maltodextrin (Fantomalt, Nutricia, United Kingdom). Before and after 7 days of loading creatine supplementation, body weight, leg strength, velocity and agility performance of the participants were determined. The data obtained were analysed with ANCOVA statistical model. Results Creatine supplementation significantly improved 10m, 20m and 30m speed performances (P0.05). The data obtained provide that 7 days low dose creatine supplementation may be an effective approach for improving exercise capacity in female futsal players without an associated increase in body weight. Résumé Objectifs Le jeu de futsal exige que les joueurs effectuent de fréquentes périodes d’activité de haute intensité avec des périodes de repos limitées qui ne sont pas suffisantes pour une récupération complète. Par conséquent, la supplémentation en créatine peut améliorer les performances en améliorant le taux de récupération. Parallèlement à cela, le nombre d’études menées pour déterminer les effets de la créatine sur la performance chez les femmes est rare. Ainsi, le but principal de cette étude est d’identifier les effets de la supplémentation en créatine à court terme (7/jour) sur puissance des jambes, la vélocité et l’agilité chez les jeunes joueuses de futsal féminines. Équipement et méthodes Au total, une trentaine de jeunes joueuses de futsal (âgées de 19,83±1,13 ans) ont participé à l’étude, conçue comme une étude randomisée et en double insu, sur base volontaire. Les participants ont été assignés au hasard soit au groupe créatine (n=15) ou au groupe Placebo (n=15). Sur 7jours, le groupe créatine a reçu 0,25g/kg/jour de monohydrate de créatine pure micronisée (Creapure, Hardline Nutrition, Kavi Gida Istanbul, Turquie) et le groupe placebo n’a pas pris de suppléments hormis la maltodextrine (Fantomalt, Nutricia, Royaume-Uni). Avant et après 7jours de chargement de supplémentation en créatine, le poids corporel, la force des jambes, la vélocité et l’agilité des participants ont été déterminés. Les données obtenues ont été analysées avec le modèle statistique ANCOVA. Résultats La supplémentation en créatine a significativement amélioré les performances en vitesse de 10m, 20m et 30m (p<0,05), la force des jambes (p<0,05) et l’agilité (p<0,05) chez les joueuses de futsal. Cependant, en fonction de la charge en créatine, aucun changement significatif du poids corporel n’a été observé (p<0,05). Les données obtenues indiquent qu’une supplémentation en créatine à faible dose de 7jours peut être une approche efficace pour améliorer la capacité d’exercice chez les joueuses féminines de futsal sans augmentation associée du poids corporel

Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke : Mendelian randomization study

ObjectiveTo determine whether serum magnesium and calcium concentrations are causally associated with ischemic stroke or any of its subtypes using the mendelian randomization approach.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using summary statistics data for 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms robustly associated with serum magnesium (n = 6) or serum calcium (n = 7) concentrations. The corresponding data for ischemic stroke were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium (34,217 cases and 404,630 noncases).ResultsIn standard mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratios for each 0.1 mmol/L (about 1 SD) increase in genetically predicted serum magnesium concentrations were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.89; p = 1.3 7 10-4) for all ischemic stroke, 0.63 (95% CI 0.50-0.80; p = 1.6 7 10-4) for cardioembolic stroke, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.44-0.82; p = 0.001) for large artery stroke; there was no association with small vessel stroke (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.67-1.20; p = 0.46). Only the association with cardioembolic stroke was robust in sensitivity analyses. There was no association of genetically predicted serum calcium concentrations with all ischemic stroke (per 0.5 mg/dL [about 1 SD] increase in serum calcium: odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.88-1.21) or with any subtype.ConclusionsThis study found that genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of cardioembolic stroke but found no significant association of genetically higher serum calcium concentrations with any ischemic stroke subtype

Meta-analysis of type 2 Diabetes in African Americans Consortium

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more prevalent in African Americans than in Europeans. However, little is known about the genetic risk in African Americans despite the recent identification of more than 70 T2D loci primarily by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. In order to investigate the genetic architecture of T2D in African Americans, the MEta-analysis of type 2 DIabetes in African Americans (MEDIA) Consortium examined 17 GWAS on T2D comprising 8,284 cases and 15,543 controls in African Americans in stage 1 analysis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) association analysis was conducted in each study under the additive model after adjustment for age, sex, study site, and principal components. Meta-analysis of approximately 2.6 million genotyped and imputed SNPs in all studies was conducted using an inverse variance-weighted fixed effect model. Replications were performed to follow up 21 loci in up to 6,061 cases and 5,483 controls in African Americans, and 8,130 cases and 38,987 controls of European ancestry. We identified three known loci (TCF7L2, HMGA2 and KCNQ1) and two novel loci (HLA-B and INS-IGF2) at genome-wide significance (4.15 × 10(-94)<P<5 × 10(-8), odds ratio (OR)  = 1.09 to 1.36). Fine-mapping revealed that 88 of 158 previously identified T2D or glucose homeostasis loci demonstrated nominal to highly significant association (2.2 × 10(-23) < locus-wide P<0.05). These novel and previously identified loci yielded a sibling relative risk of 1.19, explaining 17.5% of the phenotypic variance of T2D on the liability scale in African Americans. Overall, this study identified two novel susceptibility loci for T2D in African Americans. A substantial number of previously reported loci are transferable to African Americans after accounting for linkage disequilibrium, enabling fine mapping of causal variants in trans-ethnic meta-analysis studies.Peer reviewe

FUT2 Variants Confer Susceptibility to Familial Otitis Media

Non-secretor status due to homozygosity for the common FUT2 variant c.461G>A (p.Trp154∗) is associated with either risk for autoimmune diseases or protection against viral diarrhea and HIV. We determined the role of FUT2 in otitis media susceptibility by obtaining DNA samples from 609 multi-ethnic families and simplex case subjects with otitis media. Exome and Sanger sequencing, linkage analysis, and Fisher exact and transmission disequilibrium tests (TDT) were performed. The common FUT2 c.604C>T (p.Arg202∗) variant co-segregates with otitis media in a Filipino pedigree (LOD = 4.0). Additionally, a rare variant, c.412C>T (p.Arg138Cys), is associated with recurrent/chronic otitis media in European-American children (p = 1.2 × 10−5) and US trios (TDT p = 0.01). The c.461G>A (p.Trp154∗) variant was also over-transmitted in US trios (TDT p = 0.01) and was associated with shifts in middle ear microbiota composition (PERMANOVA p 20 were combined, FUT2 variants were over-transmitted in trios (TDT p = 0.001). Fut2 is transiently upregulated in mouse middle ear after inoculation with non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae. Four FUT2 variants—namely p.Ala104Val, p.Arg138Cys, p.Trp154∗, and p.Arg202∗—reduced A antigen in mutant-transfected COS-7 cells, while the nonsense variants also reduced FUT2 protein levels. Common and rare FUT2 variants confer susceptibility to otitis media, likely by modifying the middle ear microbiome through regulation of A antigen levels in epithelial cells. Our families demonstrate marked intra-familial genetic heterogeneity, suggesting that multiple combinations of common and rare variants plus environmental factors influence the individual otitis media phenotype as a complex trait

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

DNA methylation analyses identify an intronic ZDHHC6 locus associated with time to recurrent stroke in the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention (VISP) clinical trial

Altres ajuts: National Institutes of Health (grant U01HG005160); National Human Genome Research Institute (Supplement U01HG005160-03S1); American Heart Association Scientist Development Award (12SDG9180012); Faith Christian Center International (Charlottesville, VA). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS34447).Aberrant DNA methylation profiles have been implicated in numerous cardiovascular diseases; however, few studies have investigated how these epigenetic modifications contribute to stroke recurrence. The aim of this study was to identify methylation loci associated with the time to recurrent cerebro- and cardiovascular events in individuals of European and African descent. DNA methylation profiles were generated for 180 individuals from the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention clinical trial using Illumina HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip microarrays, resulting in beta values for 470,871 autosomal CpG sites. Ethnicity-stratified survival analyses were performed using Cox Proportional Hazards regression models for associations between each methylation locus and the time to recurrent stroke or composite vascular event. Results were validated in the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital cohort from Barcelona, Spain. Network analyses of the methylation loci were generated using weighted gene coexpression network analysis. Primary analysis identified four significant loci, cg04059318, ch.2.81927627R, cg03584380, and cg24875416, associated with time to recurrent stroke. Secondary analysis identified three loci, cg00076998, cg16758041, and cg02365967, associated with time to composite vascular endpoint. Locus cg03584380, which is located in an intron of ZDHHC6, was replicated in the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital cohort. The results from this study implicate the degree of methylation at cg03584380 is associated with the time of recurrence for stroke or composite vascular events across two ethnically diverse groups. Furthermore, modules of loci were associated with clinical traits and blood biomarkers including previous number of strokes, prothrombin fragments 1 + 2, thrombomodulin, thrombin-antithrombin complex, triglyceride levels, and tissue plasminogen activator. Ultimately, these loci could serve as potential epigenetic biomarkers that could identify at-risk individuals in recurrence-prone populations

Pharmacognostic, elemental and acute toxicity study of Fadogia agrestis root

An aphrodisiac is a type of food or drink that has the effect of making those who eat or drink it more aroused in a sexual way. Aphrodisiacs can be categorized according to their mode of action into three groups: substances that increase libido (i.e. sexual arousal), substances that increase sexual potency (i.e. effectiveness of erection) and substances that increase sexual pleasure. Fadogia agrestis (Schweing. Ex. Hiern), Rubiacea (Hausa: Bakin gagai; English name: Black aphrodisiac) is an erect shrub 1-3 feets high. Fadogia agrestis is a medicinal plant widely used for its reported antibacterial and aphrodisiac activities. The aim of this work is to carry out pharmacognostic standardization and safety profile on Fadogia agrestis root. Chemomicroscopic, physicochemical, elemental, phytochemical and acute toxicity studies were carried out using standard methods. The results obtained also provided scientific basis for the use of in folklore medicine. Chemomicroscopic characters present include; cellulosecell wall, lignified cell wall, tannins, starch, calcium oxalate and cutin. The physicochemical parameters evaluated include: moisture content (7.0%), total ash (10.5%), water soluble ash (4.1%), acid insoluble ash (8.33%), ethanol extract (15.0%), and water extractive value (12.0%). The quantitative phytochemical analysis showed that alkaloids (84.0 mg/g) was the highest phytochemical detected in the stem bark while the lowest was saponins (4.0 mg/g).LD50 of both extracts was above 5000 mg/kg and did not cause mortality in all the tested rats. The results of this investigation may be useful for deriving doses that are safe for human consumption of F. agrestis root.&nbsp